Many, if not most, Christians in Western countries know little about the grim reality of the persecution of Christians worldwide, and show scant concern for it. That is one primary reason why the Order of Saint Andrew, Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, has established this website. We hope to provide Orthodox Christians and Christians of all traditions with information about the scope and magnitude of this problem, and pray that the information we provide will spur lawmakers to act in support of the world’s embattled Christians.
“Report shows persecution of Christians is getting worse,” Aid to the Church In Need, November 16, 2022:
JIHADISTS and nationalists are driving increased persecution of Christians around the world – according to a report unveiled today.
The report, which is launched today (Wednesday, 16th November) includes information from ACN and other local sources, provides first-hand testimony, compilations of incidents, case studies and country analysis on the extent to which Christians are targeted around the world.
In the UK, the report will be presented in the Houses of Parliament with a keynote address by Bishop Jude Arogundade whose diocese in Nigeria was targeted by gunmen who killed more than 40 people at a packed Sunday service in June.
Amid growing alarm about the increasing violence in parts of the country, Bishop Arogundade said ahead of the event that “no-one seems to pay attention to the genocide” taking place in swathes of Nigeria’s Middle Belt. “The world is silent as attacks on Churches, their personnel and institutions have become routine. How many corpses are required to get the world’s attention?”
Africa saw a sharp rise in terrorist violence from non-state militants – with more than 7,600 Nigerian Christians reportedly murdered between January 2021 and June 2022.
In May 2022 a video was released showing 20 Nigerian Christians being executed by Islamist terror group Boko Haram/ISWAP.
In Asia, state-authoritarianism led to worsening oppression, which Persecuted and Forgotten? found was at its worst in North Korea, where religious belief and practice are routinely and systematically repressed….
In Syria, Christians plummeted from 10 percent of the population to less than 2 percent – falling from 1.5 million just before the war began to around 300,000 today.
While the rate of exodus is slower in Iraq, a community that numbered around 300,000 before the 2014 invasion by Daesh (ISIS) had halved to 150,000 by Spring 2022.
Persecuted and Forgotten? also found that in countries as diverse as Egypt and Pakistan, Christian girls are routinely subject to systematic kidnapping and rape….
While about 30 percent of the world’s population identifies as Christian, 80 percent of all acts of religious discrimination are directed at Christians.
Source: International Society for Human Rights
Christians face persecution in more than 60 Countries.
Source: U.S. State Department
Millions of Christians face interrogation, arrest, torture, and/or death because of their religious convictions and cultural/ethnic identification.
Source: Open Doors USA
Between 2007 and 2014, Christians have been targeted for harassment in more countries than any other religious group.
Source: Pew Research
Christian responses to persecution are almost always nonviolent and, with very few exceptions, do not involve acts of terrorism.
